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Chapter21 International Finance Management

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CHAPTER 21 INTERNATIONAL TAX ENVIRONMENT AND TRANSFER PRICING SUGGESTED ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS TO END-OF-CHAPTER QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMSQUESTIONS1. Discuss the twin objectives of taxation. Be sure to define the key words.Answer: There are two basic objectives of taxation that are necessary to discuss to help frame ourthinking about the international tax environment: tax neutrality and tax equity. Tax neutrality has its foundations in the principles of economic efficiency and equity. Taxneutrality is determined by three criteria. Capital-export neutrality is the criterion that an ideal taxshould be effective in raising revenue for the government and not have any negative effects on theeconomic decision making process of the taxpayer. That is, a good tax is one that is efficient in raisingtax revenue for the government and does not prevent economic resources from being allocated to theirmost appropriate use no matter where in the world the highest rate of return can be earned. A secondneutrality criterion is national neutrality. That is, regardless of where in the world taxable income isearned it is taxed in the same manner by the taxpayer’s national tax authority. In theory, national taxneutrality is a commendable objective, as it is based on the principle of equality. The third neutralitycriterion is capital-import neutrality. This criterion implies that the tax burden placed on the foreignsubsidiary of a MNC by the host country should be the same regardless in which country the MNC isincorporated and the same as that placed on domestic firms. Tax equity is the principle that all similarly situated taxpayers should participate in the cost ofoperating the government according to the same rules. This means that regardless in which country anaffiliate of a MNC earns taxable income, the same tax rate and tax due date apply.

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2. Compare and contrast the three basic types of taxation that governments levy within their taxjurisdiction.Answer: There are three basic types of taxation that national governments throughout the world use ingenerating tax revenue: income tax, withholding tax, and value-added tax. Many countries in the worldobtain a significant portion of their tax revenue from imposing an income tax on personal and corporateincome. An income tax is a direct tax, that is, one that is paid directly by the taxpayer on whom it islevied. The tax is levied on active income, that is, income that results from production by the firm orindividual or from services that have been provided. A withholding tax is a tax levied on passive incomeearned by an individual or corporation of one country within the tax jurisdiction of another country.Passive income includes dividends and interest income, and income from royalties, patents or copyrightspaid to the taxpayer. A withholding tax is an indirect tax, that is, a tax borne by a taxpayer that did notdirectly generate the income that serves as the source of the passive income. The tax is withheld frompayments the corporation makes to the taxpayer and turned over to the local tax authority. A value-added tax (VAT) is an indirect national tax charged on the sales price of a service or consumption goodas it moves through the various stages of production and/or service. As such, a VAT is a sales tax borneby the final consumer.3. Show how double taxation on a taxpayer may result if all countries were to tax the worldwide incomeof their residents and the income earned within their territorial boundaries.Answer: There are two fundamental types of tax jurisdiction: the worldwide and the territorial. Theworldwide method of declaring a national tax jurisdiction is to tax national residents of the country ontheir worldwide income no matter in which country it is earned. The territorial method of declaring atax jurisdiction is to tax all income earned within the country by any taxpayer, domestic or foreign.Hence, regardless of the nationality of a taxpayer, if the income is earned within the territorial boundaryof a country it is taxed by that country. If a MNC was a resident of a country that taxed worldwide income, the foreign-source income of itsforeign affiliates would be taxed in the parent country. If the host country also taxes the income of theaffiliate earned within its territorial borders, the foreign affiliate would pay taxes on the same income bothin the host country and in the parent country. To avoid this “evil,” some mechanism needs to beestablished to prevent double taxation.

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4. What methods do taxing authorities use to eliminate or mitigate the evil of double taxation?Answer: The typical approach to avoiding double taxation is for a nation not to tax foreign-source incomeof its national residents. An alternative method, and the one the U.S. follows, is to grant to the parent firmforeign tax credits against U.S. taxes for taxes paid to foreign tax authorities on foreign-source income.5. There is a difference in the tax liability levied on foreign-source income depending upon whether aforeign branch or subsidiary form of organizational structure is selected for a foreign affiliate. Pleaseelaborate on this statement.Answer: A foreign branch is not an independently incorporated firm separate from the parent, it is anextension of the parent. Consequently, active or passive foreign-source income earned a the branch isconsolidated with the domestic-source income of the parent for determining the U.S. tax liability,regardless of whether or not the foreign-source income has been repatriated to the parent. A foreignsubsidiary is an affiliate organization of the MNC that is independently incorporated in the foreigncountry, and one in which the U.S. MNC owns at least 10 percent of the voting equity stock. A foreignsubsidiary in which the U.S. MNC owns more than 10 but less than 50 percent of the voting equity is aminority foreign subsidiary or a uncontrolled foreign corporation. Active and passive foreign-sourceincome derived from a minority foreign subsidiary is taxed in the U.S. only when remitted to the U.S.parent firm via a dividend. A foreign subsidiary in which the U.S. MNC owns more than 50 percent ofthe voting equity is a controlled foreign corporation. Active foreign-source income from a controlledforeign corporation is taxed in the U.S. only as remitted to the U.S. parent, but passive income is taxed inthe U.S. as earned, even if it has not been repatriated to the parent.

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6. How might a MNC use transfer pricing strategies? How do import duties affect transfer pricingpolicies?Answer: A MNC might use transfer pricing strategies for two basic purposes: income tax liabilityreduction or funds repositioning. If the tax rate in the country of the selling affiliate is less than the taxrate in the buying affiliate country, a high markup policy on sales will leave little taxable income in thebuying affiliate country to be taxed at the higher rate. Even if the tax rate in the buying affiliate country isnot more than that in the selling affiliate country, a high markup policy will leave less funds to beremoved from the buying affiliate country. In general, import duties work in the opposite direction fromincome taxes. For example, a high markup policy will decrease the income taxes due in the buyingaffiliate country, but increase the import duty due in that country. Generally, the income tax is moreimportant in comparison to the import duty in its after-tax effect on consolidated net income.7. What are the various means the taxing authority of a country might use to determine if a transfer priceis reasonable?Answer: The U.S. and many other countries require the transfer price to be consistent with arm’s lengthpricing, i.e., be a price that an unrelated party would pay for the same good or service. The taxingauthority can arbitrarily set the transfer price if it believes that transfer pricing schemes are being used toevade taxes or that taxable income is not being clearly reflected. There are three general methods toestablish arm’s length pricing. One method is to use a comparable uncontrolled price at which the goodor service would be priced between unrelated parties. A second method is the resale price approach; thatis, reduce the price at which the good is resold by an amount sufficient to cover overhead costs and areasonable profit for the selling affiliate. The third method is the cost-plus approach, where anappropriate profit is added to the cost of the manufacturing affiliate.

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8. Discuss how a MNC might attempt to repatriate blocked funds from a host country.Answer: There are several methods a parent firm might use to repatriate profits from an affiliate in a hostcountry that is blocking funds. Some of these measures should be enacted early on as a guard againstfuture funds blockage. One is to establish a regular dividend policy that the host country becomes used toand expects. This assumes, however, the host country will let a reasonable amount of funds berepatriated. If this is not the case, the parent firm might attempt to use a high markup policy transferpricing scheme. Since host countries are aware of transfer pricing strategies, a large change in thetransfer price is likely not to go unquestioned by the host country. Thus, the parent firm should establishearly on recognition of, and payment for, specific services that are being provided by the affiliate inaddition to payment at an arm’s length price for the physical goods. For example, the parent firm mightcharge for a share of worldwide advertising, technical training of employees of the affiliate, appropriateoverhead charges, or a royalty or licensing fee for use of well-recognized brand names, technology, orpatents. The host country might accept these charges as reasonable, whereas a large transfer price thatincorporates all charges into a single price might be questioned as unreasonably large. Additionally, theparent firm can create exports, by having the affiliate charged in the blocked currency for goods andservices for which the parent would typically pay, or through direct negotiation appeal to the host countryfor more reasonable treatment, if it is in an important industry to the host country.

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PROBLEMS1. There are three production stages required before a pair of skis produced by Fjord Fabrication can besold at retail for NOK2,300. Fill in the following table to show the value added at each stage in theproduction process and the incremental and total VAT. The Norwegian VAT rate is 25 percent._______________________________________________________________________Production Selling Value Incremental Stage Price Added VAT_______________________________________________________________________ 1 NOK 450 2 NOK1,900 3 NOK2,300 Total VAT_______________________________________________________________________Solution:Production Selling Value Incremental Stage Price Added VAT_______________________________________________________________________ 1 NOK 450 NOK 450 NOK112.50 2 NOK1,900 NOK1,450 NOK362.50 3 NOK2,300 NOK 400 NOK100.00 Total VAT NOK575.00_______________________________________________________________________

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2. The Docket Company of Asheville, NC USA is considering establishing an affiliate operation in thecity of Wellington, on the south island of New Zealand. It is undecided whether to establish the affiliateas a branch operation or a wholly-owned subsidiary. New Zealand taxes income of both residentcorporations and branch operations at a flat rate of 33 percent. It also withholds taxes at a rate of 15percent on dividends paid by resident corporations to recipients in the United States. The United Stateshas an income tax rate of 35 percent on income earned worldwide, but gives a tax credit for taxes paid toanother country. Based on this information, is a branch or subsidiary the recommended form for theaffiliate?Solution: If Docket establishes a branch operation in New Zealand, it will pay a total of 35 percent on itsNew Zealand source income. It will pay 33 percent in New Zealand and an additional 2 percent in theUnited Sates after a receiving a tax credit for the New Zealand taxes. If Docket sets up its New Zealandaffiliate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, the subsidiary will pay taxes at 33 percent on New Zealandtaxable income and it must also withhold 15 percent on dividends paid to the parent. Total taxes creditswill be [.33 + .15 – (.33 x .15)] = .4305 or 43.05 percent in the United States. Thus, taxes will be 43.05percent if excess tax credits of 8.05 percent cannot be used and 35 percent if they can. Consequently abranch operation is the advisable form for the affiliate operations.3. Affiliate X sells 10,000 units to Affiliate Y per year. The marginal tax rates for X and Y are 20percent and 30 percent, respectively. The transfer price per unit is currently set at $1,000, but it can be setas high as $1,250. Calculate the increase in annual after-tax profits if the higher transfer price of $1,250per unit is used.Solution: Total tax savings = 10,000 x ($1,000 - $1,250) x (0.20 - 0.30) = $250,000.4. Affiliate A sells 5,000 units to Affiliate B per year. The marginal income tax rate for Affiliate A is 25percent and the marginal income tax rate for Affiliate B is 40 percent. The transfer price per unit iscurrently $2,000, but it can be set at any level between $2,000 and $2,400. Derive a formula to determinehow much annual after-tax profits can be increased by selecting the optimal transfer price.Note To Instructor: The solution to this problem is consistent with the example presented in the text asExhibit 21.6.

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Solution: Let A and B be the marginal income tax rate for Affiliate A and B. Further let Q denotequantity, and let P be the current transfer price per unit and P* be the optimal transfer price per unit. Theincrease in annual after-tax profit (or the tax savings) can be stated as Q(P - P*)(A - B). For each unitthere is a tax savings of (A - B) on (P - P*). Using the above numbers, there is a tax savings of (.25 - .40)= .15 for each additional dollar of cost transferred from the low tax affiliate to the high tax affiliate. Thus,at the maximum there can be a $60 = ($2,000 - 2,400)(.25 - .40) tax savings per unit from raising thetransfer price from $2,000 to $2,400. In total, the tax savings is 5,000 units x $60 = $300,000.5. Affiliate A sells 5,000 units to Affiliate B per year. The marginal income tax rate for Affiliate A is 25percent and the marginal income tax rate for Affiliate B is 40 percent. Additionally, Affiliate B pays atax-deductible tariff of 5 percent on imported merchandise. The transfer price per unit is currently$2,000, but it can be set at any level between $2,000 and $2,400. Derive (a) a formula to determine theeffective marginal tax rate for Affiliate B and, (b) a formula to determine how much annual after-taxprofits can be increased by selecting the optimal transfer price.Note to Instructor: The solution to this problem is consistent with the example presented in the text asExhibit 21.7.Solution: This problem extends the work in problem 1, above. When the ad-valorem import tariff is taxdeductible, the effective marginal tax rate paid by Affiliate B is:(1 + Tariff)B - Tariff = (1 + .05)(.40) - .05 = .37. Hence, for each additional dollar of cost transferredfrom the low tax affiliate to the high tax affiliate there is an after-tax savings of: (P - P*)[A + Tariff - (1+ Tariff) B]. In total, the tax savings is:Q(P - P*)[A + Tariff - (1 + Tariff) B] = 5,000 x ($2,000 - 2,400)(.25 - .37) = 5,000 x $48 = $240,000.

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MINI CASE 1: SIGMA CORP.’S LOCATION DECISION Sigma Corporation of Boston is contemplating establishing an affiliate operation in theMediterranean. Two countries under consideration are Spain and Cyprus. Sigma intends to repatriate allafter-tax foreign-source income to the United States. In the U.S., corporate income is taxed at 35 percent.At this point, Sigma is not certain whether it would be best to establish the affiliate operation as a branchoperation or a wholly-owned subsidiary of the parent firm. In Cyprus, the marginal corporate tax rate is 15 percent. Foreign branch profits are taxed at thesame rate. In Spain, corporate income is taxed at 30 percent. Additionally, foreign branch income inSpain is also taxed at 30 percent. The withholding tax treaty rates with the U.S. on dividend income paidfrom Cyprus is 5 percent and 10 percent paid from Spain. The financial manager of Sigma has asked you to help him determine where to locate the newaffiliate and which organizational structure to establish. The location decision will be largely based onwhether the total tax liability would be smallest for a foreign branch or a wholly owned subsidiary inCyprus or Spain.

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Suggested Solution for Sigma Corp.’s Location Decision Foreign-source income of a foreign branch of a U.S. MNC in Cyprus would be taxed at a rate of 15per cent in Cyprus. The after-tax foreign-source income would be grossed-up for U.S. tax purposes, andincome taxes at the rate of 35 percent would be levied in the U.S. If the Cyprus affiliate was establishedas a wholly-owned subsidiary, the total (income and withholding) tax liability in Cyprus would be: [.15 +.05 - (.15 x .05)] = .1925 or 19.25 percent. Additional taxes in the U.S. would be due, bringing the totaltax liability up to the U.S. income tax rate of 35 percent. Foreign-source income of a foreign branch of a U.S. MNC in Spain would be taxed at a rate of 30per cent in Spain. The after-tax foreign-source income would be grossed-up for U.S. tax purposes, andincome taxes at the rate of 35 percent would be levied in the U.S. If the Spanish affiliate was a wholly-owned subsidiary, the total (income and withholding) tax liability in Spain would be: [.30 + .10 - (.30 x.10)] = .37, or 37 percent. Since this is greater than the U.S. income tax rate of 35 percent, no additionaltaxes would be due in the U.S. If there are excess foreign tax credits (equal to 2 percent of foreign-sourcetaxable income) that can all be used by carrying them back one year and forward ten years, then the totaltax liability will equal the U.S. income tax rate of 35 percent. If excess foreign tax credits cannot all beused, as is more typically the case, the total tax liability can be as high as 37 percent. Consequently, all else being equal, Sigma Corporation should be indifferent between establishingeither a wholly-owned subsidiary or branch in Cyprus. It would want to establish a branch operation inSpain.MINI CASE 2: EASTERN TRADING COMPANY’S OPTIMAL TRANSFER PRICING STRATEGYThe Eastern Trading Company of Singapore ships prepackaged spices to Hong Kong, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States, where they are resold by sales affiliates. Eastern Trading is concernedwith what might happen in Hong Kong now that control has been turned over to China. Eastern Tradinghas decided that it should reexamine its transfer pricing policy with its Hong Kong affiliate as a means ofrepositioning funds from Hong Kong to Singapore. The following table shows the present transferpricing scheme, based on a carton of assorted, prepackaged spices, which is the typical shipment to theHong Kong sales affiliate. What do you recommend that Eastern Trading should do?

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If Eastern Trading is successful in increasing the transfer price, more of the taxable income perunit will be taxed at the current time in Singapore at 20%. A 25% increase in the transfer price wouldraise it from S$300 to S$375 per unit. At S$375, the split would be as follows: Eastern Trading Company Current Transfer Pricing Policy with Hong Kong Sales Affiliate Singapore Hong Kong Consolidated Parent Affiliate Company Sales revenue S$375 S$500 S$500 Cost of goods sold 200 375 200 Gross profit 175 125 300 Operating expenses 50 50 100 Taxable income 125 75 200 Income taxes (20%/17.5%) 25 13 38 Net income 100 62 162 The higher transfer price would result in only S$64 left to be repatriated from Hong Kong insteadof S$124.